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Snow White and the Three Stooges
}} Snow White and the Three Stooges is the second feature film to star the Three Stooges after their 1959 resurgence in popularity. By this time, the trio consisted of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Joe DeRita. Released by Columbia Pictures (which handled the distribution rights in all of North America), in association with 20th Century Fox (which handled the distribution rights outside of North America), Snow White and The Three Stooges was the trio's take on the classic fairy tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Olympic gold medalist figure skater Carol Heiss starred as Snow White, who must flee her home after her stepmother wishes her to be dead. Seeking refuge in the cottage of the seven dwarfs, she accidentally meets the Stooges, who are house sitting for them while they are away. Snow White and The Three Stooges was filmed in color. It also became the least popular. Critics did not take kindly to the film, citing a lack of on-screen time for the trio. Even Moe Howard later commented that Snow White and The Three Stooges was the team's "technicolor mistake." The film was also a box-office flop. Nonetheless, it was nominated for the Writers Guild of America award for Best Musical Screenplay for 1961. The film was produced and co-written by future U.S. Information Agency head Charles Z. Wick. Plot Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Fortunia, a noble king and his lovely young queen lack but one blessing to make their joy complete. The queen gives birth to a daughter named Snow White, but dies soon after. The king mourns her, but in time, he remarries because of the pleading of his people. His new Queen is a beautiful, but evil woman who soon becomes jealous of Snow White's beauty. On her 17th birthday, Snow White's father dies and the wicked queen immediately imprisons her. Eventually, the queen's jealousy of her stepdaughter becomes so great that she orders her killed. Snow White escapes her hired assassin and finds refuge in the empty cottage of the seven dwarfs, soon to be joined by the Three Stooges, who are traveling to the castle with their ward Quatro. But the boy they have raised since childhood (also narrowly escaping an assassination attempt by the queen) is in reality Prince Charming, who thoughr he had lost his memory, is betrothed to Snow White. Snow White and the Prince fall in love, but the queen has him kidnapped when she suspects his true identity. The Stooges, disguised as cooks, attempt to rescue him, but he falls from a staircase in the palace and is presumed dead. Meanwhile, the queen learns from her magic mirror that Snow White is still alive. With the help of her magician, Count Oga, she transforms herself into a witch and succeeds in getting Snow White to take a bite from a poisoned apple. As she rides back to the palace, she encounters the Stooges, and thanks to an inadvertent wish they make on a magic sword (stolen from Count Oga), she crashes her broom into a mountainside and falls to her death. The Stooges then find the poisoned Snow White, but they do not bury her. Instead, they place her on a bed, and pray to her each day. Meanwhile, the Prince (Quatro) has not died from his fall. Instead, he is saved by a group of men who want to revolt against the Evil Queen's rule over Fortunia. As the prince recovers, he realizes that his memory has returned, and so he knows that he is indeed a Prince, and that Snow White is the princess he was destined to marry. After leading a successful revolt which places him on the throne of Fortunia, the prince sends out searchers to find Snow White and the Stooges, unaware that, thanks to yet another inadvertent wish on Count Oga's sword, they are no longer in the country of Fortunia. All searches are fruitless, and Prince Charming is close to giving up hope when he learns of the Evil Queen's magic mirror. The mirror responds truthfully to the desperate Prince's pleas, and the Prince sets off on his journey. He arrives at the Stooges' cabin just in time to dispel the effects of the poisoned apple. Snow White and Prince Charming are married and live happily ever after. Primary Cast *Moe Howard: Himself *Larry Fine: Himself *Curly Joe DeRita: Himself *Carol Heiss: Snow White *Edson Stroll: Quatro/Prince Charming *Patricia Medina: Queen/Witch *Guy Rolfe: Count Oga *Michael David: Rolf *Buddy Baer: Hordred *Edgar Barrier: King Augustus *Peter Coe: Captain *Mark Bailey: Captain of the Guard *Mel Blanc: voice of Quinto *Herbie Faye: Head Cook *Blossom Rock: Servant Home media It was released on VHS in the new blue/white stripes clamshell packaging in November 1979 by Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment as the first Columbia Pictures film released on VHS. This marked the only Three Stooges VHS to ever be released with this packaging. In 2001, it was released on DVD by Columbia TriStar as a 40th-anniversary with remastered contrast and sound, along with the full screen side being transferred off the original CPHE VHS. Production on the DVD's full screen side transfer In late 2000, as soon as the people at Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment got enough money, they bought a VHS capture card for recording the original 1979 VHS release. They also set up blinds on their windows so nobody walking by could see them transferring the movie. As soon as the DVD sides were set (Side A as Full Screen, Side B as Widescreen) and the transferring began, the company advertised the 40th anniversary VHS and DVD in hopes that people could buy the VHS/DVD once it was released. As soon as transferring was done, restoriation was underway. The CTHE employees were able to install an app on their computer which gives them the ability to restore the tape in high quality. About halfway into editing, the company that the restoriation app came from had called and told them that time was up on the app. He managed to dump the footage onto a hard drive and dump the footage onto Side A of the DVD. After everything was done, two copies of the sides were made on two DVDs and were rushed off for duplication and everyone, who had not slept in a couple days in order to get the DVD done, slept for a few days while the copies were going off. 1979 VHS release plot & tape content introductions Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment logo The logo (and tape) begins with the familiar Columbia "Torch Lady", who is holding a torch and standing on a purple pedestal of stairs in front of some blue clouds. Then, the picture moves upward and towards the torch as the rays pull in, which shines even more as the picture blurs around it. It then emits a flash that fills the screen. When the flash dissolves, the light torch itself appears, as if in sunburst, against a black screen and as it shrinks, it changes into a more "abstract" torch: a blue half circle, or a semicircle, with thirteen white light rays in the center and there is a video freeze at the end, with "Columbia Pictures" blacked out by "'''COLUMBIA PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS", '''written in white, in Cooper Black font, chyroned in below. Story Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Fortunia, a noble king and his lovely young queen lack but one blessing to make their joy complete. The queen gives birth to a daughter named Snow White, but dies soon after. The king mourns her, but in time, he remarries because of the pleading of his people. His new Queen is a beautiful, but evil woman who soon becomes jealous of Snow White's beauty. On her 17th birthday, Snow White's father dies and the wicked queen immediately imprisons her. Eventually, the queen's jealousy of her stepdaughter becomes so great that she orders her killed. Snow White escapes her hired assassin and finds refuge in the empty cottage of the seven dwarfs, soon to be joined by the Three Stooges, who are traveling to the castle with their ward Quatro. But the boy they have raised since childhood (also narrowly escaping an assassination attempt by the queen) is in reality Prince Charming, who thoughr he had lost his memory, is betrothed to Snow White. Snow White and the Prince fall in love, but the queen has him kidnapped when she suspects his true identity. The Stooges, disguised as cooks, attempt to rescue him, but he falls from a staircase in the palace and is presumed dead. Meanwhile, the queen learns from her magic mirror that Snow White is still alive. With the help of her magician, Count Oga, she transforms herself into a witch and succeeds in getting Snow White to take a bite from a poisoned apple. As she rides back to the palace, she encounters the Stooges, and thanks to an inadvertent wish they make on a magic sword (stolen from Count Oga), she crashes her broom into a mountainside and falls to her death. The Stooges then find the poisoned Snow White, but they do not bury her. Instead, they place her on a bed, and pray to her each day. Meanwhile, the Prince (Quatro) has not died from his fall. Instead, he is saved by a group of men who want to revolt against the Evil Queen's rule over Fortunia. As the prince recovers, he realizes that his memory has returned, and so he knows that he is indeed a Prince, and that Snow White is the princess he was destined to marry. After leading a successful revolt which places him on the throne of Fortunia, the prince sends out searchers to find Snow White and the Stooges, unaware that, thanks to yet another inadvertent wish on Count Oga's sword, they are no longer in the country of Fortunia. All searches are fruitless, and Prince Charming is close to giving up hope when he learns of the Evil Queen's magic mirror. The mirror responds truthfully to the desperate Prince's pleas, and the Prince sets off on his journey. He arrives at the Stooges' cabin just in time to dispel the effects of the poisoned apple. Snow White and Prince Charming are married and live happily ever after. CPHE's ending warnings On a blue background, the yellow words "THESE FILMS ARE SOLD FOR HOME USE ONLY. ANY DUPLICATION, REPRODUCTION, PUBLIC PERFORMANCE, OR COMMERCIAL USE IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED." scroll up and stop when they are at the screen. This fades out and goes to next screen: On a red background, we see a white box with the black and white FBI logo ("FBI" at the top, and the FBI seal at the bottom) at the left. On the right is the red text "WARNING" and at the bottom of it is the FBI Warning information. Home video releases Category:1961 Category:Feature films Category:20th Century Fox Category:Moe, Larry, Curly Joe Category:Columbia